Natural birth methods/classes « Back to Group Discussions

[hollyann]

Hi Ladies,

So I'm giving birth in a free standing birth center, the birth center gave me a giant sheet of options for birth classes but I'm not really sure where to start, there are basic classes, Lamaze, Hypnobirthing, Bradley method, ect. (I'm leaning toward Hypnobirthing, my sister in law had a great experience birthing her babies that way)  I would love to hear what your experiences were and what worked for all of you, did you take any classes, or just read books/listen to tapes or just see what happened. 

Also, with a midwife assisted, birth center or home birth, did you use a doula, and did you find it helpful or not necessary?

Thanks!

[cristeen]

I'll answer the 2nd question first.  We had a HB with DS, and we did not have a doula.  We're planning a HB this time, and I will absolutely be hiring a doula!!  Big mistake last time.  I actually need to start interviewing both labor and pp doulas after the NY.  With a HB MW, they do not arrive until you are in "full, active labor", and mine was far more concerned with the "medical" aspects than with supporting me during labor.  Since I was in labor for 4 days before my MW showed up, I really could have used the support then - and even after she showed up, since she was not hands-on, made no suggestions of things to try, etc.  In interviewing MWs this time around, it was made more clear to me that this is pretty much the norm, if I want hands-on support during labor, I really need to hire a doula.  During pg, I thought all along I would want everyone hands-off, but with such a long labor, I didn't have it in my anymore, I needed the help. 

As for methods, I had a doula friend who discussed my personality type with me, and based on that recommended Hypnobabies (which is different from Hypnobirth) for me.  I will also be doing at least some BFW work, since my MW is an instructor, and I need to do some processing of my previous births.  From what my friend told me, Hypnobabies is more pragmatic, more straightforward for logical thinkers, whereas BFW is more artsy, for people so inclined, who are more emotional thinkers. 

We tried Bradley with our first, wound up only going to one class - but I would recommend you learn a bit about any instructor before putting down the money for something like that.  She was absolutely not a good fit for us (extremely religious, with biblical quotes on the walls - which made us very uncomfortable).  Although I will say that I have heard since that Bradley is less helpful for OOH births than it is for hospital births, so based on that alone, I wouldn't choose it now.  Lamaze I have heard similar things of - better for hospital births than OOH births, since you have far more freedom of movement OOH than you do in the hospital. 

HTH

[Kamiro]

Lamaze - More for hospital births

Bradley - Really great if your husband plans on being your 'doula' and very active with you during the birth - we built on this class for HB's

Hypnobirthing - No personal experience, but have heard good things - going to do this time.

Hypnobabies - Same as above

I never hired a doula because my husband was really active and supportive of HB. We always had the midwives there any where from less than 10 minutes to 2 hours maximum for each birth, but my hard labor never went over 24 hours.

The last birthing class I took was kind of a 'Birthing from Within" inspired artsy class. We drew pictures, and did a lot of stuff that was...kind of odd. I think it was heavily inspired by that book "The Secret" with mandelas and all that stuff cause the instructor brought it up all the time LOL

As Cristeen said with the religious inudated class she went to - we experienced the same kind of religious undertones in this class, except much more 'new agey'. Don't think of a c-section and you won't have one, you create your reality kind of thing.  Unless I am paying for a faith oriented class, I would rather have it 'just stick to the facts Ma'am".

As a side note, I was the only one who wasn't rabid/judgmental about c, and I was the only one out of five who didn't need one.  Some things you just can't explain.

Those are my birthing class experiences. To be honest, it is kind of like a rite of passage to go through - but I agree with Cristeen 100% - DON'T PAY FOR A CLASS UNLESS YOU CAN TRY IT OUT FIRST!

[lightheartedmom]

I only took classes with my first baby and the one I took was very facts based "this is what happens during labor" type stuff. The instructor pretty much wrote off the possibility of birth without an epidural and her "coping" tips for pain were beyond useless. Still, it was a good class for first time parents because it covered the basics - stages of labor, etc. It was good for dh who didn't know much of any thing about childbirth and the infant care class that went with the series was helpful.

For my second, I prepared by spending Excessive amounts of time on mdc and by reading Ina Mays guide to childbirth.

I think Bradley classes are designed for doing battle with hospital staff...(cristeen, was your Bradley class in the east bay?) and thus might not be helpful if you're having an ooh birth.

I know people who love hypnobabies stuff and/or hypnobirthing...but have no firsthand experience with them myself. For me, I am not all that artsy but when it comes to birth I've come to view it on a very spiritual level (and not in the "women must feel pain in child birth as part of their curse" sense ;-)) so I would go in for a class that emphasized the mind-body aspects of birth. But for a first baby, especially of your dh is going to be your main support, a class that addresses the basic aspects of the birthing process as well as covering the pain management side would probably be good.

Regarding support people - for my first birth, I wish I'd hired someone. Dh was amazing, but we were both scared newbies and were not even remotely prepared to battle an unsupportive nursing staff and OB who were all just waiting for me tO let them rescue me with an epidural. At my weakest moments, when I needed support, I just got pitying looks and useless shrugs from my supposedly "pro natural birth" l&d nurse. I later learned that hospital had a 95% epidural rate for vaginal births. Some of those nurses had never seen a woman birth a baby without drugs!

My second, I had a midwife assisted delivery at another hospital. My mw was there most of the time, and she was beyond perfect. She didn't interfere too much (I like to be left alone during labor), but at those crucial moments when even dh (worlds best doula) couldn't bolster my courage, she was there, squatting next to me on the floor looking me right in the face telling me she knew I was strong and that I could do it and that!! made all the difference in the world. If your birth center midwives and your dh can be those people for you, you probably don't need a doula...but if not, or if you feel likeyou just need that one extra backup, get the doula! Whoever is with you in those hours, they need to be strong for you in those moments when you start saying "I can't do it any more!" (it will happen...always does...right before it's over ;-)) and they need to believe in you. If you have to pay someone to do that, so be it. In my book, it's worth it.

Good luck!

[RenoKirbyButtrs]

Thank you to those who shared your wisdom here. I'm also overwhelmed by the choices. I looked into Bradley, Hypnobirthing and Hypnobabies and they all seemed like a bit of an expensive gamble. Where I live, the most experienced doula I could find teaches a very low cost 6-week childbirth class at the hospital where I will deliver. If you take her classes, she knocks $100 off her fee if you choose to hire her. I liked this for several reasons.

First, my midwife group has 4 midwives, but so far my appointments seem to be with the same one or two. There is no telling who will be on call when I deliver, or whether she will have to divide her time among more than one laboring woman. So as much as they seem like they'd be supportive in labor, there's no guarantee of one of them being there consistently.

I also liked the idea of the person who taught me birthing methods being the one in the room with me. Hypnosis related methods appealed to me, but I wasn't sure how much I could buy into them mentally, and my super-skeptic husband would have a tough time supporting me in that. I'm not sure what her focus is, but I am not into all that new-agey stuff like Onemore mentioned she experienced.

So if you are thinking of a doula, it might be worthwhile to look into that first and see where it leads you. I'm hoping this will be a good fit for us, but I will report either way!

[callieollie]

I took bradley with my first. It was very informative, but didn't help when I was in labor, as my labor was not textbook (back labor, nonstop contractions for 28 hours straight).  Plus, it' meant to be "husband coached" birth and while my dh is very supportive, I think my level of pain and the difficulty with the long labor was overwhelming for him and I felt like I was sort of on my own for most of it.  

So with my second I wanted to try something different.  I had looked into hypnobirth briefly with my first but thought it sounded too "out there" and that it wouldn't work for me.  But, I looked into it again and read a lot about that vs. hypnobabies and decided to give hypnobabies a shot (most of what i read favored hypnobabies over hypobirth so that was why I chose that one). It was AMAZING.  First, it just made my pregnancy more enjoyable. I was relaxed and enjoyed the pregnancy. I did the home-study course and would listen to the CDs before bed and it would put me to sleep and I swear, I got the best sleep of my life!  It was amazing.  Then, when i actually went into labor, I just had what I thought were braxton hicks contractions. I woke up at 1:30 in the morning, decided to get a drink of water because of the BH contractions, remembered I forgot to get the laundry out of the dryer, went down and folded that and then around 2:15-2:30 came upstairs and decided to time my "contractions." They were 2-3 minutes apart. I got on my computer because I was thinking, "wait, doesn't that mean I'm in active labor and really close to having a baby?" but couldn't find anything to explain why they were so close and yet I wasn't in pain or anything. So I went upstairs to wake my dh up.  He called the mw and doula (I didnt' want him too since I KNEW I was not in labor yet and didn't want to disturb then but he insisted). It was an hour drive to the birth center so we left right away (at 3:30).  We got to the birth center at 4:30 and they checked me and I was at 6 cm. I couldn't believe it!  I was laughing and joking and jumping up and down (literally) because I was so far and it was soooo different already from my first birth. I hopped in the tub, got a drink of gatorade or some drink like that with a little umbrella in it, posed for a picture or two (pretending I was on the beach on vacation, lol!) and enjoyed the water.  About 15-20 minutes later, I felt pressure really low and shortly after that I said I felt like I had to go to the bathroom. Right then, I peed in the tub (or so I thought, it was probably my water breaking) and turned on all fours to stand up to get out to poop and my body just started pushing!  The doulas called the mw in and said, "she's pushing" and I remember thinking (oh my gosh, this is so embarassing. I am not pushing now, I'm just pooping!") but then she comes in and says, "I see a head!" I was SHOCKED.  4 minutes later my dd was born.  It was pain free.  Amazing! There were only 2 uncomfortable parts. Once in the car when dh made a sharp turn and I had to catch myself and the muscles in my body tightened when I did so - that was a painful contraction and lasted about 90 seconds (by far my longest - none of my other contractions ever lasted more than 45 seconds).  The other time I felt some pain was during crowning. I said, "oh, it burns" and the midwife said, "that's ok" and the pain was gone. So that was about 2 seconds (literally) of some pain.  

So I LOVED hypnobabies.  I totally did not think it would work for me, even up until the birth. I figured it would help and that anything was better than the excruciating labor I had with my first baby, but I did not expect it to work as well as it did.  I am doing it again for this baby and am loving it already and can't wait to fully start the program.  

[Kamiro]

Goodness, Katie...

Ohh, I so want to do hypnobabies. That sounds amazing! That is a really awesome experience!

[sosurreal09]

I can not recommend hypnobabies more really I can't! I loved my birth and can't wait to birth again. I know it would have been so much different without it. I feel like this baby will just fly out of me LOL

[PuppyLove22]

New here, Hi! I am doing hypnobabies this time. I did a little research between hypnobirthing and hypnobabies and found this link http://www.pregnancybirthandbabies.com/comparison_between_hypnoclasses.htm which helped me decide. I have heard good things about bradley also, but being familiar with self hypnosis already and knowing that it really relaxes me I knew this was the way to go for me. We start classes at the end of January and I can't wait!

[sosurreal09]

I did the home class . I could get all personal on how it helped me overcome serious emotional issues if you all want but it may be triggering for some people.

[Kamiro]

I was going to buy the hypnobabies home kit - the one that is like $150 on amazon. Not doing it yet, of course..Have to wait a bit for the money..

Will 3 months leave me enough time to have a good experience you gals think?

[callieollie]

Onemore - the home study course is a 5-week course followed by maintenance. So, I believe it's typically recommended you start around 32 weeks so that you are done by 37 (when you could still be full term and go early) and then you just do the maintenance schedule until baby arrives.  What I did was do each week over two weeks. So I'd spread out the reading and CDs for each week over a 2-week period. That gave me lots of practice. Plus, I was just eager to get started. So I believe I started around 28 weeks?  I am already listening to the pregnancy affirmations (just nice messages about being pregnant) and will start the program this time around the same time again. I thought of starting later since I've done it before, but I just enjoy it so much that I wanted to started early again.  It's good to know yourself though. If you think you'll get burnt out and tired of listening to CDs and readings daily for 10 weeks, then do the shortened version.  Here's an article that talks about when to start:

http://www.enjoybirth.com/faq-when-start.html

[lindsayjean]

I highly recommend Hypnobabies!!  I loved my 2nd birth so much I became a Hypnobabies instructor.  I love love LOVE attending Hypnobabies births now a as a doula and I will DEFINITLEY be using the program again this time.  I really can't say enough good things about the program.  I'd make sure you have at least 6 full weeks before your considered full term to practice and full dedicate to the program for it's max effectiveness :-)

[forestmushroom]

Another hypnobabies!  Not only does it make for a more calm, relaxed birth, but I've found that the whole program really improves and helps me enjoy pregnancy.  Just listening to the birth affirmations every day makes my day better.  I love how it helps me totally conk out at night, too!  Good sleep makes for a happy mama.  I've found it to really be the best method for pain/anxiety reduction, but I am a self hypnosis believer.  I think if you are not into that, then it might not work as well for you... but I love the concept of having my subconscious do all the work LOL!

[PuppyLove22]

Originally Posted by forestmushroom 

Another hypnobabies!  Not only does it make for a more calm, relaxed birth, but I've found that the whole program really improves and helps me enjoy pregnancy.  Just listening to the birth affirmations every day makes my day better.  I love how it helps me totally conk out at night, too!  Good sleep makes for a happy mama.  I've found it to really be the best method for pain/anxiety reduction, but I am a self hypnosis believer.  I think if you are not into that, then it might not work as well for you... but I love the concept of having my subconscious do all the work LOL!

Me too! I love hypnosis for other things, so I knew that would be the right route for me =) Can't wait to start!!!

[hollyann]

Thanks for all of your thoughts! We talked to a few hypnobabies instructors here in NYC and think we found one to use, I chatted with her for about a half an hour and got a good feeling from her, she was very open and wanted to answer my questions and tell me about her course. One of my friends offered to lend me the home study, but I definatly learn better in a class room setting, I also think it will help dh feel more involved.  The classes she is offering either starts this Sunday, which feels too soon for me, or mid march, I would be 30 weeks, which would give me about 4 weeks to practice after the course ends, that is, if baby decides to come on time!

[Arianrhod]

This is a great thread! I also signed up for a Hypnobabies class in the last week. My midwife group is a big fan of Hypnobabies births (in a hospital, btw) so I'm totally excited to have everyone on the same page. Next step for me: interviewing doulas.